Did a piston soak on the 18 Kia 2.4L this weekend

[SubieRubyRoo]

My Scion burned over a quart in 300 miles when I bought it. A piston soak improved that to about 1000. A second soak with two full bottles of B12 improved it to the point where I don’t add any oil between changes.

B-12 is a very strong solvent. I absolutely am on board with piston soaks on engines that can do them (I can’t on my Boxers). But I don't think it’s wise for people who dump it in the sump and run the engine with it. There’s unnecessary risk using a strong solvent in measurable quantities IMO.

My personal use of B-12 would be a 24-48 hour soak with the plugs out and ignition disconnected with periodic addition of extra B12, and a few revolutions with plugs out every 12 hours. After 3-4 of these cycles adding B12 and cranking, I’d immediately drain & change the oil and filter, and then run a 3k OCI after that with a quart of EC. Then change oil and filter again and resume normal OCIs.

 

[Mewbs]

I wonder if some people do piston soaks as a preventative maintenance measure when doing their tune up? I'm still on factory spark plugs about to hit 150k miles, was thinking if its wise to knock 2 birds with one stone?

 

[Elkins45]

B-12 is a very strong solvent. I absolutely am on board with piston soaks on engines that can do them (I can’t on my Boxers). But I don't think it’s wise for people who dump it in the sump and run the engine with it. There’s unnecessary risk using a strong solvent in measurable quantities IMO.

My personal use of B-12 would be a 24-48 hour soak with the plugs out and ignition disconnected with periodic addition of extra B12, and a few revolutions with plugs out every 12 hours. After 3-4 of these cycles adding B12 and cranking, I’d immediately drain & change the oil and filter, and then run a 3k OCI after that with a quart of EC. Then change oil and filter again and resume normal OCIs.

Run one side up on a ramp and do those two cylinders? I know you can’t fill it all the way up but capillary action will probably help it creep up to the top of the rings.

I won’t run it in the sump either.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

I wonder if some people do piston soaks as a preventative maintenance measure when doing their tune up? I'm still on factory spark plugs about to hit 150k miles, was thinking if its wise to knock 2 birds with one stone?

I would. And I will, when I replace spark plugs. Also was thinking of Amsoil Power Foam, that way the upper cylinder area can get some cleaning too.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Run one side up on a ramp and do those two cylinders? I know you can’t fill it all the way up but capillary action will probably help it creep up to the top of the rings.

I won’t run it in the sump either.

Nah, there’s no safe way to get the one side high enough to be useful without causing a safety risk from the angle needed or the probability of oil starvation IMO. Thankfully, EJs do not have any real history of oil ring problems unless the engine has been severely neglected; the biggest issue I’ve had on my EJs as they age is the VC gaskets and spark plug tube seals that “fail” due to shrinkage causing leaks.

It’s not an overly involved job, but simply due to how tight the strut towers are to the VCs I’ve just let my indie do the two EJ251s that had tube seal leaks. About $60 in OEM parts and 2 hours of labor at $55 per means for $170 there was no way I was donating blood and cussing all afternoon.

 

[K20FA5]

Update

Oil level is still on full today! I added 1/4 quart late last week, but it’s been quite a while now and it’s still not using. I’m very happy!

 

[Mewbs]

Update

Oil level is still on full today! I added 1/4 quart late last week, but it’s been quite a while now and it’s still not using. I’m very happy!

Awesome, this inspires me to try it on a friend's car that I know is burning some oil (2013 KIA Rio).

I would. And I will, when I replace spark plugs. Also was thinking of Amsoil Power Foam, that way the upper cylinder area can get some cleaning too.

I put some thought about this topic during lunch. I know there are many approaches to a problem and solution.
While my car doesn't currently burn any significant oil currently I'll keep this topic in mind for future references & friends that have oil burning issues.

Let me know if my step method of approach is sound? Its probably excessive for most here.

1. Car front wheels on ramps
2. Remove spark plugs
3. Turn crank until pistons are even depth
4. Fill each cylinder with around 4-6 oz of B12 or Top Engine Cleaner & cover spark plug holes
5. Wait 6 hours
6. Check for leak down
7. Turn engine crank
8. Top off with more B12 / Top Engine Cleaner, turn crank & cover spark plug holes
9. Wait another 6 hours or overnight.
10. Check for leak down & turn crank
11. Repeat step 8, 9 & 10 if desired
12. Check for leak down, drain/suck out remaining solvent in cylinders
13. Wait 6 hours or more until pistons are dry
14. Add small amounts of engine oil (1-2 oz) in spark plug holes & turn crank to lube cylinder walls
15. Suck out any remaining excess oil in cylinders
16. Install spark plugs and coils
17. Drain contaminated oil & filter
18. Fill new oil to crank case, new filter
19. (optional) Add fuel system cleaner (BG 44k / Techron) to gas tank (to accelerate oil wash off on pistons on car startup)
20. Drive for 500-1000 miles or until fuel with cleaner is exhausted
21. Drain oil or use engine flush (BG EPR) & Drain oil / filter
22. Fill new oil & filter.
23. Monitor oil consumption per x miles driven.

 

[Gus_Mahn]

Awesome, this inspires me to try it on a friend's car that I know is burning some oil (2013 KIA Rio).



I put some thought about this topic during lunch. I know there are many approaches to a problem and solution.
While my car doesn't currently burn any significant oil currently I'll keep this topic in mind for future references & friends that have oil burning issues.

Let me know if my step method of approach is sound? Its probably excessive for most here.

1. Car front wheels on ramps
2. Remove spark plugs
3. Turn crank until pistons are even depth
4. Fill each cylinder with around 4-6 oz of B12 or Top Engine Cleaner & cover spark plug holes
5. Wait 6 hours
6. Check for leak down
7. Turn engine crank
8. Top off with more B12 / Top Engine Cleaner, turn crank & cover spark plug holes
9. Wait another 6 hours or overnight.
10. Check for leak down & turn crank
11. Repeat step 8, 9 & 10 if desired
12. Check for leak down, drain/suck out remaining solvent in cylinders
13. Wait 6 hours or more until pistons are dry
14. Add small amounts of engine oil (1-2 oz) in spark plug holes & turn crank to lube cylinder walls
15. Suck out any remaining excess oil in cylinders
16. Install spark plugs and coils
17. Drain contaminated oil & filter
18. Fill new oil to crank case, new filter
19. (optional) Add fuel system cleaner (BG 44k / Techron) to gas tank (to accelerate oil wash off on pistons on car startup)
20. Drive for 500-1000 miles or until fuel with cleaner is exhausted
21. Drain oil or use engine flush (BG EPR) & Drain oil / filter
22. Fill new oil & filter.
23. Monitor oil consumption per x miles driven.

Sounds good to me. I'd drive it easy for 10-15 miles then beat on it for a bit. On the Audi 2.0 I did after the flush and changing the oil and filter, I did 4-5 0-75 mph WOT hits. Some say run it down the road at 4000ish rpm for an extended period. I ran the car with 2 cans off Berryman's in the crank case in the driveway only. Mixed reviews on this, but it caused me no issues. The car did start to miss heavily after 3-4 minutes. I'm sure this was the Berryman's off-gassing. I pulled the plugs, oil filter, left the fill cap off and drained the crank case and let the car sit overnight. It ran perfectly the next day after adding new plugs and changing the oil, and has used little to no oil since. It was using a qt every 400 miles.

 

[K20FA5]

I had to add a 1/2 a quart today. The last time I added was on March 29th when I added 1/4 quart. Today I added 1/2 quart of the HPL EC30 that I had laying around from when I used it before.

Overall, I’m still very happy with how much this has helped slow down a major oil burn into something pretty minor. I will be doing another piston soak at the end of this OCI though. Especially since it helped so much. Not sure it will ever cure a bad Kia ring design though???

 

[97prizm]

I suspect the GDI system forces a small amount of fuel passed the rings causing the cylinder walls to get scuffed which causes the oil burning. Just a theory. I don't think it's a stuck ring that can be fixed with a piston soak.

Do you think it's Kia's gdi design? Audi and other manufacturers use direct injection but don't see this issue.

 

[short]

very interesting thread

 

[nicholas]

Do you think it's Kia's gdi design? Audi and other manufacturers use direct injection but don't see this issue.

All of our kia and Hyundai's with DI burn zero oil and get better than EPA mpgs.

It's not a DI Kia thing.

 

[Elkins45]

I had to add a 1/2 a quart today. The last time I added was on March 29th when I added 1/4 quart. Today I added 1/2 quart of the HPL EC30 that I had laying around from when I used it before.

Overall, I’m still very happy with how much this has helped slow down a major oil burn into something pretty minor. I will be doing another piston soak at the end of this OCI though. Especially since it helped so much. Not sure it will ever cure a bad Kia ring design though???

The first soak on my Scion took me to around a quart every 1000 miles. The second one a year later essentially stopped it completely.